"Don't call him Mattie. You don't have the right to call him by that. And it is your fault that my brother has barely left his apartment except to go to school and the animal shelter where he volunteers. Now, you are going to go apologize or I will make you regret hurting him." Alfred told him, completely ignoring whatever the Russian was talking about. This was more important. He needed his brother to get back to the way he was.

"Sometimes." Arthur admitted. "I've dated people from France before and they all had some of the same characteristics. Not all, but some." Mostly the flirting with anybody and the jumping into bed with strangers. Which is why most of his relationships with those people ended. He despised cheating. He felt that was the worst thing someone could do in a relationship.

Gilbert furrowed his brow. Was this guy listening to him at all. He wasn't going to apologize even if he made someone cry. "What the hell? Is his name not Mattie?! I don't even know okay! Francis told me and it's probably all his fault for making up that drinking contest in the first place! I'm not going to apologize for telling someone I'm not interested! It's not my fault!" he continued to yell as his voice reached a shrill level that had far more eyes on them.

Before the security could intervene, Ivan grabbed the dancer's arm and dragged him outside without letting him even protest. "This conversation is better in private, yes? Honestly, you scream so loud!" he whined. "I can't come back if I get thrown out again." And he was having too much fun to leave the other two. This was tv wasn't it?

Francis narrowed his eyes. "Exactly what to you think makes a person French?" he asked with hesitation. He had a feeling Arthur thought something awful in that pretty head of his. Being French was artful and wonderful! What did Arthur think. He didn't explain and that made him suspicious.

Alfred's hands clenched into fists in anger as he followed the Russian and dancer outside. After he was done dealing with this guy, then he'd go talk to the bartender, who he assumed the albino was talking about. Either one of them needed to make things right with Matthew. He hated seeing his brother so upset. "It doesn't matter if you're interested or not. You don't make people cry over it." he told him, his voice going colder.

Arthur was silent for a moment, thinking. "Being overly charming and flirtatious, mostly." he eventually said. He didn't say it to be mean. He was just going off what he had personally seen the last time and every time he'd been in France. So it was hard not imagining every French person to be the same even if they lived somewhere else.

This guy was way beyond pig headed and stupid. Gilbert stumbled and found himself outside which was definitely not where he wanted to be. "I'll talk to him, but I'm not going to apologize!" he snapped again. "It's not like I bitched him out! I can't control other people's emotions." He may have gotten more than a little drunk that night, but he didn't say things like that, so he could be sure he didn't then either. He always turned everyone down.

"You know being flirtatious is just how it looks to you. It's being friendly!" Francis insisted. If this was about being 'free with their love', the Italians were far worse at it. Most people would call the French vain and even rude. The Americans thought it, but there was nothing particularly French about being promiscuous. That was all him.

"You'd better be nice when talking to him. You'll find him at the North Avenue Animal Shelter all day tomorrow. So you'd better talk to him then." Alfred told him. He turned to head back inside but before completely leaving his stopped and turned back. "If you do anything to hurt him again, I'll break every bone in your body." He said that with a slightly smile before leaving completely.

"I'm sure that's what it was. Being friendly." Arthur said to humor him. But he was pretty sure being felt up by a complete stranger wasn't being friendly. That was being creepy and perverted. But he kept that little thing to himself. The last thing he wanted was to make Francis mad at him over having these opinions.

"What the fuck?" Gilbert groaned, dropping down into a squat. He really wanted to point out that him talking to Mattie wasn't going to help. That would give him hope and then he'd cry all over again, so wasn't that crueler? But this American was too stupid to see that obviously. If he thought he could get away with it, he wouldn't go. If that guy was getting friendly with the Russian though, he better do it. He didn't doubt that the kid would hurt him and that would be stupider than fuck.

Ivan followed Alfred back inside and smiled at him. "I've learned something magnificent today," he exclaimed. "I think that you're really not all that different from me after all. I still want to wrap my scarf around your neck, maybe, but I like you!" He smiled and sat down again, glad to see his vodka was still there.

Francis crossed his arms. "Aren't I a total gentleman? Aren't I friendly?" he complained, sure that Arthur didn't believe him. He should though. If anyone knew the French around here, it should be him. "Don't stereotype people based on random experiences." Although he was curious as to just what was going on in the other man's head.

"And I still want to break your big stupid nose. But maybe you might not be so horribly awful. And that's a big maybe." Alfred eventually said, retaking his seat as well. After he sat down he realized he still didn't have a drink. He looked around for the bartender, but noticed he was busy further down the bar and sighed.

"You're friendly enough. I wouldn't be wasting my time with you if you weren't." Arthur told him. He wouldn't have gotten this far into a relationship with someone if he didn't think they were worth being around. "I will try not to, but it just sort of happens." It was something that people just seemed to do without even realizing it. He knows he hates when people stereotype him so he would try not to do the same to others.

Ivan poured a drink into the shot glass and passed it over to Alfred while taking the bottle for himself. "My gift to you for showing me such a fun time!" It hardly seemed like Ivan liked Gilbert considering how much fun he had watching Alfred threaten him, but Ivan's brain just worked that way. "But I don't quite get why I am the bad guy here when you threatened to break the poor little bunny into pieces."

"I'm glad. I would hope very much that you think I'm worth it," Francis said with a smile. He tossed back his hair, staring up at the ceiling for a second with a dreamy smile on his face. "I certainly think you are worth it." It may have started with his love of the English accent, but it was so much more than that now. It was just because Arthur was Arthur, not English or anything else.

Alfred took the shot and knocked it back, coughing slightly at the burn as it went down his throat. "That guy made my brother cry. I don't care who he is. Nobody is allowed to mess with my brother." He stated. He's spent his entire life standing up to the bullies who kept messing with Matthew and he wasn't going to stop now. It was his big brother duty, after all.

Arthur could feel himself blushing again at Francis's words and brought his glass up to take a drink, hoping to hide his face. Why did the Frenchman have to say such embarrassing things?! Though it was still nice to here from someone. Not many people have told him that that wasn't family.

Ivan patted the American on the back, hard, when he coughed. "Oh my. Have you never had vodka before?" he asked. Without pause, he poured another shot, then took a gulp himself. "Do you not see the fallacy of your logic though? You just protected someone by become a bully yourself." To him, this was very clear. He wasn't criticizing the other, but it would be awful hypocritical not to know.

Francis still noticed his blush though and he let out a little cry of glee. "Why must you look so cute!" he exclaimed with a flighty hand wave, just about dancing on his feet. "I'm going to make it a rule now. I'm going to tell you amazing and wonderfully embarrassing things all the time and you'll just have to get used to them!" It would be so much fun. Really, he couldn't have thought of a more wonderful idea.

Alfred glared at the other at the pat and the question. He's had vodka once before. And only just now remembered that it wasn't his favorite. "I wasn't being a bully!" he exclaimed, outraged by the accusation. "Bullies enjoy hurting people. They only want to help themselves. I do what I do to protect someone I care about. There is a difference."

"I really wished you wouldn't." Arthur told him, dreading the thought. "I have a reputation to uphold, you know. Besides, if I got used to you acting like that, then I wouldn't react in the same way. I'd probably just stop reacting all together." He wasn't to sure about that, but he was hoping that the thought that it could happen would make Francis reconsider his idea.

Ivan had no difficult with his drink despite the consider amount of the bottle that had already disappeared. It almost looked like he drank water, but then, he had too much practice with this. "I don't see that there's a difference if the end result is still hurting people." He shook his head. The victim certainly wouldn't care what reason the other had. "If your brother likes the bunny, yes, do you think he'd like you to beat him up?"

"Reputation?" Francis quirked an eyebrow, wondering just what sort of reputation got in the way of adorableness. He shook his head. "We could call it a social experiment. To see if you would ever stop blushing." Francis doubted that he would. One month, one year, ten years from now--could he still get that same kind of reaction? He surprised himself from thinking such long date and fell into silence although some of his thoughts showed on his face.

".... No..." Alfred muttered after a moment of silence. Matthew would just get mad at him if he knew his brother had beaten someone up again. It didn't matter whether or not he liked the guy or not. "So you're saying you never beat up someone who made you mad?" He asked, doubtful about that.

"I'm sure I would." Arthur stated, sure of this fact. Well, he hoped he was sure about that. He finished the rest of his drink in silence. "You should know that I told my family about you.. Well, not you specifically. Just that I had started dating again." he told him. He thought back to the other night when he was speaking to his brothers and parents over Skype and he had stuttered out that he had started seeing someone. He didn't say anything about the person, but his brothers had correctly guessed that whoever it was was French. Which meant they instantly didn't approve.

While he was talking to Francis, he didn't notice three pairs of eyes watching them from across the club.

Ivan burst out laughing, his head thrown back as he rocked on his stool. "I didn't say I never beat anyone up, but it's not very good business technique!" he exclaimed, still trying to fight back his laughter. Honestly, it was so funny to think of such a question. "Ah, but it's easier to just fire someone or buy out their company." He nodded his head. Yes he once or twice pulverized someone in anger, possibly while drunk. At that time in his life, he couldn't exactly when he had been sober or not. But Ivan also tried to be very nice too!

Francis froze, his face growing serious when Arthur mentioned his family. "Oh? You've already told them about me?" he asked with a little hesitation. He never mentioned his partners. Maybe if he stuck with them longer...maybe. At least Arthur didn't say him by name. Wait, wasn't he happily thinking about ten years from now? And now Francis felt hesitant over a brief mention to family as if that might make them permanent someone. He probably needed to talk to someone about these conflicting thoughts. "What did they say?"

One of those pairs of eyes belonged to Alistair. "Do you think that's him? Wow, look at them flirt!" he exclaimed from his table, sat between his other two brothers. They just came to harass their brother for a free drink, but found something far more interesting instead. "Maybe we should go say hi?"

Alfred glared at the other when he started laughing at him. That was rather rude! "That's not a very good way to make friends, you know." he stated, poking at the fact that people seemed to avoid the Russian. He was starting to remember why he didn't like this guy. He hated business guys who would act like that. Especially if its towards someone who doesn't deserve it.

"My parents were happy that I've opened myself up to start dating again. My brothers, not so much. But their opinions don't really matter to much since they've objected to basically everybody I've ever dated before in the past." Arthur told him. He felt a clenching feeling in his gut by the look on Francis's face. He was really hoping the Frenchman wasn't doubting dating him because of this.

Cadan and Patrick looked at each other for a second before turning to Alistair. "Of course we should. Its been so long since we've seen our dear little brother, after all." Cadan said, a smirk forming on his face. He and Patrick stood up and headed over to the bar, taking the seats on either side of the Englishman.

Ivan tilted his head, his laughter dying as quick as it came. "It's not my job to make friends though." This all seemed very obvious to him. Those people at least, he had no interest in getting close to. "See, if I wanted to make friend, I would offer them vodka or yummy candy or pat them on the back and say 'great job!'" It didn't occur to him that all these situations had come up to some variation with the American. He didn't know that brat's name, so how could they be friends?

Francis did his best to wipe his expression away and put on a charming smile again. He didn't have much choice though. A group of three young men came up to the bar, looking just a little like trouble. Did one of them just say brother? Oh...crap...

Alistair himself stood behind Arthur, crossed his arms and leaned them against his brother's back. "We wanted to surprise you! Won't you order us a drink from this nice French barman here?" he asked, putting extra emphasis on the one word. He stared at the bartender for an extra second before he leaned down to poke Arthur in the cheek.

"Life is so much better if you have friends though!" Alfred exclaimed. He couldn't imagine not having friends. With that thought in mind, he made a mental note to call his friend Kiku to hang out tomorrow. They could have a video game marathon! That would be awesome! It also didn't occur to him that the Russian had basically done all those things with him.

Arthur felt himself tense up when Alistair leaned against him. "What the bloody hell are you three doing here?!" he exclaimed, turning his head to glare at his brother when he poked him.

"Didn't you hear Alistair? We wanted to surprise you. It's been a while since we've seen you in person." Patrick told him. Cadan nodded in agreement, but kept his eyes on the barman.

"And no, I will not buy you a drink. Buy your own and leave." Arthur added, not wanting them here to ruin his barely started relationship more than it probably already was.

Ivan looked the American right in the eyes, his usual smile gone, replaced by a serious look. "Yes it is." But since Ivan only knew the side of chasing after friends, he couldn't say much. He never really had friends, even as a child. He thought he did, but years later he learned that they befriended him as his father's request, in order to get close to an heir to a powerful company, or simply because he pressured them into it. He stared forlornly at the vodka bottle. Why was it already so low?

Francis flipped his eyes between these new additions to the bar. He could tell just from looking at their faces that they were related to Arthur. All of them had the same vivid green eyes. "Um...a round of ales then?" he asked. These were Arthur's brothers and he needed to make a good impression it seemed, but he felt too pressured to act natural. They were staring at him.

Alistair flashed a grin without moving from his Arthur armrest, though he did stop poking him. "Oh yes, we will start with that." No matter what Arthur said, he clearly had no intentions of leaving. "But it's so surprising to know you're dating someone!" he started like they had no guesses who that someone was.

Alfred felt bad about the way he was treating the other. Sure, he was a Russian and probably Communist. But that didn't give him the right to be mean. He could already hear his father's disapproval. That made him feel worse. he was silent for a moment, thinking about how to fix this. "I've got an idea! How about I be your friend." He suggested. It was the best idea, of course, since it came from the hero!

"Yes. Do tell us more." Cadan said, his eyes flicking from the bartender, to Arthur, then back again. "You didn't really say much when we last spoke."

"Tell us things like where did you meet? How long have you been dating? Is it a girl or guy this time?" Patrick asked, watching his brother.

"Its none of your business. And get off of me!" Arthur said the last part to Alistair, trying to get him off of him. He shot Francis an apologetic look. He really didn't want this to have happened.

Ivan stared at the American, shocked speechless by such a suggestion and that excited tone. How could he say that in such a way? "Friends?" Ivan echoed. Could he trust this American who multiple times said he wanted to punch him? Ivan wanted to sneer and disregard such a suggestion because he didn't trust it and didn't want it from this kid. And yet...friends. He could never say no. "...but you don't even know my name."

Francis fetched the drinks, all while never turning his back on the group of brothers. What should he do? After meeting Arthur's look of apology, he sent one of his own. Although his boyfriend probably didn't want to explain their relationship, Francis had a feeling things would get worse if he played innocent. "Actually, your fine brother is dating me. My name is Francis."

Alistair raised one eyebrow. "Really, little bro?" Isn't his hair a bit too flashy?"

Francis just about collapsed with shame.

"Then the only thing to do is introduce ourselves." Alfred stated, rotating in his seat so that he was fully facing the Russian. "My name is Alfred F. Jones. And you are?" He asked, waiting for the other to answer. He was sure he might have read what the other's name was in a magazine somewhere, but he just couldn't remember what it was.

"Why would you want to date a frog anyway?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah. You do remember what happened the last time you dated a French person, right?" Cadan asked.

"My memory is perfectly fine, thank you very much. And he really isn't that bad." Arthur insisted. He had been hoping Francis wouldn't have said something about their relationship, sure that his brothers wouldn't take it well. But now he was going to have to face what comes.

Ivan swallowed hard, still a bit baffled by this sudden friendship thing. "Ivan Braginsky. And...how exactly does one celebrate becoming friends?" He said that, but what he really wanted to ask was how one even was a friend to another. There was etiquette to this sort of stuff right? What did friends do exactly?

Francis resisted the urge to say he wasn't a 'frog'. He figured these guys already had enough to pick and point at him though. Would it be alright to crawl under the bar and die? "Come now...you don't even know me. Arthur likes me. I'm sure if you spend the time time talk with..." Okay, he wasn't sure talking with him would improve the brothers' opinions. Francis stared at the bar, unable to meet anyone's eye.

Alistair pulled away finally to make a mock gesture of pain. "Oh my gosh, his accent is so strange. How can you stand it?!" he pulled away from them as if to get further away from Francis.

"What? Hey!" Francis snapped.

"Lets have a drink to celebrate!" Alfred exclaimed. He looked around and noticed the bartender was still busy at that other end of the bar. It didn't appear as if he was going to be coming back this way in a while. "As soon as the bartender comes back over here." He added.

Arthur turned to glare at Alistair. "That is enough. All of you. You don't get a say in who I date. And there is nothing wrong with the way he looks or the way he speaks." He said, defending Francis. His brothers were acting way to immature in his opinion.

"You could do so much better, Artie." Cadan stated.

"Even an American would be better than a frog." Patrick added in agreement.

"Drink? We can always drink!" Ivan exclaimed with a big grin. "But we have vodka already. Here, have more." He poured more into the glass, nearly to the point it spilled. He lifted his bottle to stare it with something like a childish pout on his face. "But it is almost empty and I'm not drunk yet. I will make the bartender come when we finish it!" He gulped some vodka down and pulled at his scarf with clumsy fingers.

Francis never felt more insulted in his life. An American would be better? They were pigs! Really, was he allowed to cry right now? "I will throw you out if you can't be civil!" he exclaimed. No more trying to get on their nice side. It was obviously not going to happen. And he really did not want to see these people when drunk.

Alistair scoffed. "I'd like to see you try."

Alfred took the shot and drank it, ignoring the burn as he watched Ivan. "Actually, I think you've had enough to drink." He told him. He didn't know how much the Russian had to drink before he got here, but he could tell the other was well on his way to being drunk. That wasn't something he wanted to see.

"What can you do against us? You're outnumbered." Cadan said.

"Then I'll help him throw you out. Honestly, you are acting like children. Why do you always have to do this whenever I start dating someone new?" Arthur asked, exasperated. He really didn't understand his brothers at all.